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In 1959, the @AmerMedicalAssn began publishing and distributing pro-seatbelt PSA’s in response to a cultural struggle that might feel quite similar between a public health mandate and personal freedom [thread]
![In 1959, the @AmerMedicalAssn began publishing and distributing pro-seatbelt PSA’s in response to a cultural struggle that might feel quite similar between a public health mandate and personal freedom [thread]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EcqPQzoWAAAolqb.jpg "In 1959, the @AmerMedicalAssn began publishing and distributing pro-seatbelt PSA’s in response to a cultural struggle that might feel quite similar between a public health mandate and personal freedom [thread]")
Seat belts were first offered in cars for additional $27 in 1956 and only 2% of buyers chose to purchase them. In 1968 a law passed requiring all cars to be fitted with seat belts. But being voluntary, less than 15% of Americans said they used seat belts as late as 1983
Seat belts started becoming mandatory state by state in 1984, and it was fiercely opposed. That year in 1984, 65% of Americans opposed the laws. Anti-seat belt activists took their cases to court and even *cut the seat belts out of their own cars* to protest the laws
Today, over 90% of Americans wear seat belts regularly, and the only state where seat belt use is not mandatory is NH whose state motto is “Live Free or Die”
Societal change takes work from the national and state governments, activists, and from the @AmerMedicalAssn itself, which began publishing and distributing those pro-seat belt PSAs in 1959. How will history look back on our debates on wearing masks during a global pandemic?
TL;DR wear a mask, encourage your family and friends to wear a mask - it's the very least we can do for ourselves and others. For more trusted information and updates on COVID, here's a letter from the AMA, ANA, and AHA https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/ama-aha-ana-open-letter-mask-use-stopping-spread-covid-19
